1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to media players and, more particularly, to navigating menus of media players.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ability of computers to be able to share information is of utmost importance in the information age. Networks are the mechanism by which computers are able to communicate with one another. Generally, devices that provide resources are called servers and devices that utilize those resources are called clients. Depending upon the type of network, a device might be dedicated to one type of task or might act as both a client and a server, depending upon whether it is giving or requesting resources.
Increasingly, the types of resources that people want to share are often entertainment-related. Specifically, music, movies, pictures, and print are all types of entertainment-related media that someone might want to access from across a network. For example, although a music library may reside on a desktop computer, the media owner may want to listen to the music on a portable media player.
In order to achieve portability, many portable media players use minimalist displays that allow the user access to the music via simple graphical user interfaces. The displays are not always well-lit, and may not be navigable in the dark. Also, the user may be in certain situations (e.g., driving a car) where it is not convenient or appropriate to look at the display, or may have a physical disability that makes visually navigating the menu impossible. Additionally, many people may simply find the displays too small and inconvenient to use on a regular basis.
Although the described technologies work well in many applications, there are continuing efforts to further improve the user experience.